Sting

[Torrent Maniak]

Down So Long

Down So Long




The sun sets across the ocean
I'm a thousand mile from anywhere
And my pocketbook in my heart
Both just got stolen
And the sun act like she don't even care
The wind blows cold when you reach the top
Feels like somebody's face is stuck to the bottom of my shoe
Got a plastic jesus, a cordless telephone for every corner of my room
Got everybody but you tellin' me what to do

Well I've been down so long
It can't be that much longer still
And I've been down for so long
That the end must be drawing near

I looked to everybody but me
To answer my prayers
Until I found an angel in the bathroom
Who said she didn't see anybody who was saving anywhere
And the blind man said, "Simple... like flipping a coin -
Don't matter what side it lands on
So long as it's somebody else's dime"
Cause if you're the top of the bottom
It all feels the same
We live out of fear if we're too rich or we're too poor
Guess all I can do is muster up some change
And a little bit of faith
And take some dignity when I walk through this door

Gonna take a trip
Catch a train
Got a ticket in my hand
And then a fat man takes my money
And like cattle we all stand
I'm just a faceless body lost in this vast and worthless sea
In a thousand people I do not know
But really they are no different from me
They all have passion
They all have fear
They all have intense confusion
And no sweet moments that are clear
They all have aspirations
High hopes and dreams
And are really that alone like me

We've been down so long
It can't be that much longer still
We've been down so long
That the end must be...
The end must be...
The end must be drawing near

 

[Torrent Maniak]

Driven To Tears

Driven To Tears




How can you say that you're not responsible?
What does it have to do with me?
What is my reaction, what should it be?
Confronted by this latest atrocity

Driven to tears

Hide my face in my hands, shame wells in my throat
My comfortable existance is reduced to a shallow meaningless party
Seems that when some innocent die
All we can offer them is a page in a some magazine
Too many cameras and not enough food
'Cos this is what we've seen

Driven to tears

Protest is futile, nothing seems to get through
What's to become of our world, who knows what to do

Driven to tears

 

[Torrent Maniak]

Ellas Danzan Solas (Cueca Solas)

Ellas Danzan Solas (Cueca Solas)




?Por que estan aqui, danzando solas?
?Por que hay tristeza en sus miradas?
Hay soldados tambien
Ignoran su dolor
Porque desprecian el amor
Danzan con los muertos
Los que ya no estan

Amores invisibles
No dejan de danzar
Danzan con sus padres
Sus ni?os tambien
Y con sus esposos
En soledad, en soledad

Yo las vi, en silencio gritar
No hay otra manera de protestar
Si dijeran algo mas
Solo un poco mas
Otra mujer seria torturada
Con seguridad

Danzan con los muertos
Los que ya no estan
Amores invisibles
No dejan de danzar
Danzan con sus padres
Sus ni?os tambien
Y con sus esposos
En soledad, en soledad

Un dia danzaremos
Sobre sus tumbas, libres
Un dia cantaremos
Al danzar
Un dia danzaremos
Sobre sus tumbas, libres
Un dia cantaremos
Al danzar

Ellas danzan con los desaparecidos
Danzan con los muertos
Danzan con amores invisibles
Con silenciosa anustia
Danzan con sus padres
Con sus hijos
Con sus esposos
Ellas danzan solas
Danzan solas

Hey Mr Pinochet
Su siembra huele mal
Y ese dinero que recibe
Pronto se terminara
No podra comprar mas armas
Ni a sus verdugos pagar
Imagine a su madre
Danzando siempre en soledad
Danzan con los muertos
Los que ya no estan

Amores invisibles
No dejan de danzar
Danzan con sus padres
Sus ni?os tambien
Y con sus esposos
En soledad, en soledad

 

[Torrent Maniak]

End Of The Game

End Of The Game



The fox had done running
And the beast is at bay
He'd run them in circles
By the end of the day

They chased him through bramble
They chased him through the fields
They could chase him forever
But the fox would not yield

And some saw her shadow
On the crest of a hill
And the hounds were distracted
Away from the kill

One day we'll reach a great ocean
At the end of a pale afternoon
And we lay down our heads just like we were sleeping
Controlled by the drag of the moon

We ran through the forests
And we ran through the streams
We ran through the heather
Though we ran in our dreams

And you were my lover
And I was your beau
We ran like the river
What else did we know?

One day we'll reach a great ocean
At the end of a pale afternoon

And the dogs are all worn out
And the horses all lame
Oh the hunters they're hunted
At the end of the game

Our love was a river
A wild mountain stream
In a tumbling fury
On the edge of a dream

And they chased us through the brambles
And they chased us through the fields
They'd chased us forever
But the heart would not yield

When the fox has done running
At the end of the day
I'm ready to answer
I'm ready to pay

And this river's done running
And my time will come soon
Carried to the great ocean
By the drag of the moon

 

[fox69]

"50,000"

"50,000"


Another obituary in the paper today,
One more for the list of those who've already fallen.
Another one of our comrades is taken down,
Like so many others of our calling.

We tweet our anecdotes, our commentary,
Or we sing his songs in some sad tribute,
While the tabloids are holding a story of kiss and tell,
That he's no longer able to deny or refute.

50,000 voices rising every time he'd sing,
And every word he ever wrote reflecting back to him.

How well I remember the stadiums we played,
And the lights sweeping across a sea of 50,000 souls we'd face.
A serious drug that you could never kick,
Or one that you couldn't imagine you'd ever replace.

We flew like kites on the wings of amphetamine,
Secured only to a bass line and a snare drum beat.
But really what did any of it mean?
When there's a higher philosophy in reflection and defeat.

50,000 voices rising every time he'd sing,
And every word he ever wrote reflecting back to him.
Still believing that old lie, the one that your own face betrays,
Rock Stars don't ever die, they only fade away.

Reflecting now on my own past,
Inside this prison I've made of myself.
I'm feeling a little better today,
Although the bathroom mirror is telling me something else.

These lines of stress, one bloodshot eye,
The unhealthy pallor of a troubled ghost.
Where did I put my spectacle case?
I'm half blind and as deaf as any post.

50,000 hands are raised to a man that's just like you and me.
We create the gods we can and gift them immortality.
Still believing that old lie, the one that your own face betrays,
Rock Stars don't ever die, they only fade away.

 

[fox69]

"A Cradle Song"

"A Cradle Song"


Sweet dreams, form a shade
O'er my lovely infant's head.
Sweet dreams of pleasant streams
By happy, silent, moony beams.
Sweet Sleep, with soft down
Weave thy brows an infant crown.
Sweet Sleep, Angel mild,
Hover o'er my happy child.
Sleep, sleep, happy child,
All creation slept and smil'd.
Sleep, sleep, happy sleep
While o'er thee thy mother weep.
Sweet babe, in thy face
Holy image I can trace,
Sweet babe once like thee,
Maker lay and wept for me.
Wept for me, for thee, for all,
When He was an infant small.
Thou His image ever see,
Heavenly face that smiles on thee.
Smiles on thee, on me, on all,
Who became an infant small,
Infant smiles are His own smiles;
Heaven and earth to peace beguiles.

 

[fox69]

"And Yet"

"And Yet"


This town, this stain on the sunrise,
Disguised in the mist this morning,
It's 8AM, a seagull shouts a sailor's warning.
This sky, this bend in the river,
Slows down and delivers me, the tide rolls back,
And all my memories fade to black,
And yet, and yet...I'm back.
This town has a strange magnetic pull,
Like a homing signal in your skull,
And you sail by the stars of the hemisphere,
Wondering how in the Hell did ye end up here?
It's like an underground river, or a hidden stream,
That flows through your head, and haunts your dreams,
And you stuffed those dreams in this canvas sack,
And there's nothing round here that the wide world lacks,
And yet, and yet...You're back.
Some nights I'd lie on the deck and I'd stare at the turning of the stars,
Those constellations hanging up there from the cables and the rigging,
I'd wonder if she saw the same, or managed to recall my name,
But why would she ever think of me? Some boy she loved who fled to sea?
And why waste time debating whether she'd be waiting for the likes of me?
So ye drift into port with the scum of the seas,
To the dance halls and the brothels where you took your ease!
And the ship's left the dock but you're half past caring,
And ye haven't got a clue whose bed you're sharing.
And your head's like a hammer on a bulkhead door,
And it feels like somebody might have broken your jaw,
And there's bloodstains and glass all over the floor,
And ye swear to God ye'll drink no more,
And yet, and yet.
In truth, it's too late to find her,
Too late to remind her at some garden gate,
Where a servant tells me I should wait,
And perhaps a door's slammed in my face,
My head must be in outer space,
And yet, and yet,
Before the sun has set,
Before the sea,
There may be something else that's waiting for,
The likes of me.
This town, this stain on the sunrise...

 

[fox69]

"Angel Eyes"

"Angel Eyes"


Have you ever had the feeling
That the worlds gone and left you behind?
Have you ever had the feeling
That you're that close to losing your mind?

You look around each corner,
Hoping that she's there.
You try to play it cool, perhaps.
Pretend that you don't care.

But it doesn't do a bit of good.
You got to seek 'til you find.
Or you'll never unwind.

Try to think that loves not around.
Still it's uncomfortably near.
My old heart, ain't gaining no ground.
Because my angel eyes ain't here.

Angel eyes that old devil sent.
They glow unbearably bright.
Need I say, that my loves misspent?
Misspent with angel eyes tonight.

So drink up all you people.
Order anything you see.
Have fun you happy people.
The drink, and the laughs on me.

Pardon me, but I've got to run.
The facts uncomfortably clear.
Got to find who's now number one.
And why my angel eyes ain't here.

Tell me why my angel eyes ain't here.
Asking why my angel eyes ain't here.
Excuse me, while I disappear.

 

[fox69]

"August Winds"

"August Winds"


When August winds are turning,
The fishing boats set out upon the sea,
I watch 'til they sail out of sight,
The winter follows soon,
I watch them drawn into the night,
Beneath the August moon.

No one knows I come here,
Some things I don't share,
I can't explain the reasons why,
It moves me close to tears,
Or something in the season's change,
Will find me wandering here.

And in my public moments,
I hear the things I say but they're not me,
Perhaps I'll know before I die,
Admit that there's a reason why,
I count the boats returning to the sea,
I count the boats returning to the sea.

And in my private moments,
I drop the mask that I've been forced to wear,
But no one knows this secret me,
Where albeit unconsciously,
I count the boats returning from the sea,
I count the boats returning from the sea.

 

[fox69]

"Ballad Of The Great Eastern"

"Ballad Of The Great Eastern"


In 18 hundred and 59, the engineer Brunel,
Would build the greatest ship afloat, and rule the ocean's swell.
Nineteen thousand tons of steel they used to shape the mighty keel,
Forged inside the smelter where they made the gates of Hell...
And the name upon the contract, Isambard Brunel.

As day-by-day the monster grew, the engineer Brunel,
Would watch the devil's handiwork, and woe betide a man who shirks,
Or slows the pace to build the keel, nineteen thousand tons of steel,
Anyone with eyes to see is but a bride of Hell,
And the name upon the draftsman's chart, Isambard Brunel.

A riveter was on the hull with his apprentice lad,
He'd served his time with the older man, some say it was his dad.
200 men upon the shift but when the day is done,
The count is hundred 98...before the setting sun,
They searched the yard all through the night until the morning bell,
No more delays are countenanced by Isambard Brunel,
And so they work a double shift, to make the time in full,
No mention of the missing men...they seal the double hull.

The ship was launched upon the tide and all the townsfolk cheered,
A brass band played but not a word of omens they had feared,
But before the afternoon was out, the celebration wrecked,
A dignitary clutched his heart...and collapsed upon the deck.
No doctors could revive him as the telegraphs would tell,
And the name upon the coffin...Isambard Brunel.

And now upon the open sea, the mighty ship did plough,
But many feared the darkness, in the shadow of its prow.
An explosion on the lower deck, would take the souls of five,
With a growing superstition 'mong the sailors still alive.

The captain and his boy are lost while rowing to the shore,
The crew will threaten mutiny and say they'll work no more,
They began to say the ship was cursed, they hadn't even seen the worst,
They'd signed on able-bodied men, but they wouldn't sail to Hell...
When the name upon the manifest is Isambard Brunel.

For 14 years that ship will sail, misfortune taken hard,
The owners barely find a crew to reach the breakers' yard.
And as they take the plates apart, unseal the double hull,
The breakers call the foreman o'er, they'd found a human skull.
And then they find the younger man, perforced to understand,
That in the hour of their torment, he'd reached his father's hand.

In 18 hundred and 59, the engineer Brunel,
Would build the greatest ship afloat, and rule the mighty swell.
The final shift was over, and the breakers' hammers fell,
And the name upon the manifest, the contract signed in Hell,
Was the same as on the draftsman's chart...one Isambard Brunel.